DEQ has completed a major milestone in its food waste prevention work, and recently published its findings on the Oregon Wasted Food Study. This study tracked wasted food in both urban and rural households—using quantitative and qualitative research methods—to increase our understanding of how much, what, and why food is discarded by people in Oregon. This work was conducted by Portland State University’s Community Environmental Services.

Key findings include:

BRING still needs about 20 volunteers to assist with their 11th Annual Home + Garden Tour on Sunday, September 8.

More from BRING: 
Volunteers that sign up for one shift will earn a Tour ticket and our great appreciation! Volunteer duties include greeting Tour-goers, selling tickets, and helping homeowners during this year's event.

Press release from PSI and Oregon DEQ 

Pharmaceutical companies held responsible to collect unused medications

Portland, Oregon -- Oregon joined five states with a new law that requires drug manufacturers to pay for and run a statewide drug take-back program. The law, signed by Governor Kate Brown and championed by Representative Sheri Schouten, will ensure that every community in Oregon has free, convenient access to safe drug disposal. The law takes effect in September 2019 and the program must be operational by July 1, 2021.

When more than a thousand cars showed up for the last plastic round up, the Waste Management Division was concerned about the carbon emissions created by the cars. In response, waste management specialist Sarah Grimm says they created a community collector program to encourage a few people to collect plastic for their entire neighborhood.

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Oregon may have a great reputation for recycling, but that doesn’t mean everyone is doing it right.

Numbers show an average of 25 percent of recycling in the United States is garbage, according to the National Waste & Recycling Association.

In the Portland metro, about 9 percent of what’s in a homeowner’s recycling bin is usually trash, according to Metro.

China’s ban on many recycled items is coming home to roost in Oregon but Curry County is faring well, said recycling coordinator Candi Wilk of Curry Transfer and Recycling, the company that provides trash and recycling services here.

Since the announcement China wouldn’t take more loads of contaminated material — or plastics marked with Nos. 3 to 7 — CTR has merely eliminated them from the items that can be recycled, as well.

Right now, curbside composting of residential food waste is available in the cities of Bend, Redmond and Sisters—but not the wider county. But in the (somewhat) near future, those living in the wider county could see curbside composting come to them. The Deschutes County Solid Waste Advisory Committee has been working on a Solid Waste Management Plan for the past year and is expected to present a final draft of the plan to the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners in May.

With companies looking to reduce waste promising all packaging to be recyclable or compostable in the coming years, Oregon Composters have united in their efforts to keep Oregon's composting programs "food only". Click here to read why.

Metro Council voted to approve a plan that will shape the way greater Portland manages the garbage and recycling system for the next 12 years – including everything from the way products are made to how to shape jobs in the industry.

The 2030 Regional Waste Plan is the fourth such plan that Metro has crafted — a process it goes through roughly once a decade. 

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